Howering Death

Pied Kingfisher
Ceryle rudis

ගෝමර පිළිහුඩුවා / මල් පිළිහුඩුවා

This couple of birds were noted perching at a branch close to a small lake in Kilinochchi, located in the Northern Part of Sri Lanka. 

I was able to note the other two commoner types of Kingfishers as well, namely the White Throated and Common Kingfisher. 

Compared to its coloured counterparts, the Pied Kingfisher shows a unique hunting style. It is able to hower over a body of water for about a minute or two and then dive in at a right angle to the water and snatch its pray, in a speed that it is difficult to fully appriciate this feat by the naked eye.

They do perch on a tree branch hanging over the water like others, but they dont dive directly from the perched position to capture its prey like the other two Kingfishers I observed in the tank. The perching is more a resting and preening phase than hunting, for the black and white bird. 

The last couple of pictures show the hower position which reminds one a bit of a howering Sunbird suckling nectar from a flower, but these birds of prey can be noted to focus sharply on a point before they dive. 

It was simply fascinating to see the sharpness and the grace of the dive ending with a loud splash and a successful hunt almost all the time !